If you’re a fan of zombie horror games and movies, odds are that you’ll love The Walking Dead: Road to Survival, even more so if you like the comics and TV series. Luckily, while there is quite a bit to the game, it’s really easy to get into without outside help and still do a pretty good job if you’ve got a bit of game sense. However, if you’re like us, you probably like to do things right from the very start, which is why we’ve created this guide, so that you know exactly what to do as soon as you gain control of your town, and have access to the most features of the game.

Like we mentioned above, this game is far less complex than most other titles available in the market as of today. In this sense, we’re simply going to list the things that you should be focusing on in the early phases of the game so that you’re prepared to tackle the challenges of the mid to late game. Keep in mind that, as free users, we plan to write this guide from the point of view of a player that does not want to spend money on the cash shop.

That being said, let’s get started.

In the Beginning

As soon as you start the game, you will be treated to an introductory cutscene, which basically sets up the entire plot and leads to the point where you assume control of your town. After viewing these cutscenes and completing the opening tutorials, you will be able to control the development and construction of your town, and also go on missions on the World Map.

At this point, you might feel tempted to go on missions and progress the story just as the game expects you to. However, it’s important that, right from the very beginning, you start to plan out your town and decide on how you want to build stuff. Similarly, you will also want to begin building as soon as you have enough materials to do so.

In the tutorial, you were asked to build a material post, which provides a steady supply of materials, the game’s resource that is used for most building and upgrading efforts, as well as in creating new items in the workshop. As soon as you have control, we suggest building two farms, and an additional material post, and upgrade all of them to their highest possible level. Make sure to also construct appropriate storage buildings to store your excess resources; once you reach maximum capacity, production stops, and no production is always a bad thing. The storage buildings are the aptly-named food storage and material storage, for food and materials, respectively.

After constructing and upgrading your production buildings, you’ll want to create a system that will allow you to advance your town at a steady pace. In this case, we found that a system of priorities was the way to go:

The levels of all buildings are determined exclusively by the level of your Town Hall. Basically put, if your Town Hall is level 2, then all your other buildings are limited to level 2. In this sense, upgrading this building is a top priority at all times.

Since you will, at most times, be short on food, upgrading your farms is always priority #2. Construct two of them at the beginning and keep them at their highest possible level at all times.

Since we’re playing as a mild whale (that is, as players that are not 100% dedicated to the game, and play mostly casually), our third priority was to construct and upgrade the material storage, more so than the material post. This is because materials are not used for much at the beginning, other than upgrading buildings, and you’ll have plenty of time to get them back once you spend them. In this sense, the material storage is important because it increases the maximum amount of materials you can carry at one time, which is pivotal for upgrading some buildings that require more than what you can carry at the beginning. So remember, build material posts first, then storage, and then proceed to upgrade the storage first, and then the material posts.

There are other buildings, such as the workshop and training grounds, that must also be kept in mind. However, at the point where we’re currently in, the workshop is not very important other than for crafting Replenish items, which keep our party healed throughout their battles. Upgrading the workshop, therefore, is not a priority. Similarly, the training grounds are important later on for creating characters that can be used to level up your main crew.

Progressing

In the beginning, your goal will be to reach level 30 as fast as possible since this is where the real game begins. To this end, you must always stay vigilant for when the XP roadmap comes up so that you can run it over and over for easy levels. On a good day, it’s easy to get around 5 levels on an XP roadmap. However, you’ll need some energy refills in order to keep running the roadmap on several instances. After reaching level 30, you will essentially start to hunt for 4-star weapons to beef up your characters.

The best way to farm for these weapons is by repeating certain stages. The third stage of level 12 is great for this since it features walkers without traits that are easily defeated, and can have a decent chance to drop awesome weapons.

Obtaining and Using Coins

As free users, there are seldom opportunities to obtain coins, the game’s premium currency, without having to open our wallets and spend our money. However, in The Walking Dead: Road to Survival, there are a couple of ways in which you could get a few coins every day, and without much hassle. By clicking on the billboard located at the far right of your town, near the track, you can choose to view offers and advertisement videos to receive coins. While the payout is small, it can add up over time and allow you to afford premium items without ever having to spend your money.

Now, in terms of spending your coins, there are several things you could prioritize. Ideally, you’ll always want to buy energy refill when they’re on sale, which will allow you to recharge your energy and continue to challenge stages without having to wait for it to refill over time. However, the flat 100-coin price for these items is simply not cost-effective. The only other things that are worth your money are the premier epic packs, especially when they’re paired with a guaranteed bonus, such as a 5-star character, or a 4-star weapon. By saving up coins, and spending them wisely on these special offers, you will receive a massive head early on in the game.